Clamp for tentering-machines.



PATENTED APR. 23, 1907.

' H. W. HONEYMAN.

CLAMP FOR TENTERING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.26, 1903.

Witnesses nu: Manna PEYIRS 60., WISHINKIION, A c.

rinrrnn srarns arnngr OFFIOE.

HENRY W. HON EYMAN, OF PAWTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THETEXTILE-FINISHING MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ACORPORATION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 23, 1907.

Application filed January 26,1903. Serial No. 140.4:83.

To all 'LUII/OTVI/ it 71mg concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY W. HONEY- MAN, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Pawtucket, county of Providence, and State ofRhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cloth Clampsfor Tentering Machines, of which the following, with the accompanyingdrawings, is a description.

My invention more partlcularly relates to automatic cloth-clamps used incloth-tentering machines which are so arranged that after the cloth isfed into the clamp a finger or controller will rest upon the cloth, andthereby hold the upper or gripping jaw of the clamp out of contact withthe cloth until the latter is withdrawn from under the controller, whenthe upper or gripping jaw will be permitted to fall and grip the clothupon or near its selvage.

My present invention consists of making the arm which supports thegripping-j aw of resilient metal, preferably of somewhat heavysheet-steel, for the purpose hereinafter set forth, and in a roundedraised bead upon edge of the table of the lower jaw, which is intended,preferably, to act in combination with the resilient arm forming theother portion of my invention, but which may in many cases beadvantageously used with the old style of arm.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of my clamp. Fig. 2is a front elevation; and Fig. 3 is a side elevation, largely insection, upon line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

As is well known by those acquainted with the art, cloth-clamps arecomposed of a base constituting one of the links of an endless chain, asA in the drawings, which links are afterward united together by means ofpins passed through the holes shown in Fig. 1. Upon this base andattached rigidly to it is generally a brass plate B, (best seen in Fig.3,) which as herein constructed is bent down over the front edge of thebase proper. The plate B has a slot through it, into which the finger orcontroller C may fall when the cloth is withdrawn from under it in themanpivot at its upper edge and has a rearward projection E, with a hookupon it to engage the hook upon the controller or finger O to art, andas my present invention does not depend upon them or any particularcombination of them I will not further describethem ortheir action.

My invention consists principally in substituting for the two armsheretofore used to support the gripping-j aw a single curved upper armF, (see particularly Fig. 3,) preferably made of rather heavysheet-steel or some other resilient metal curved into substantially theshape shown. The lower portion of this arm is made to rest upon and berigidly attached to the base-link under the brass plate B, and its upperportion after being curved forward, as shown in Fig. 3, to constitutethe supporting-arm for the gripping-j aw D is curved back upon itself toinclose the rod G, forming the pivot for that jaw. The arm F, made ofsheet-steel, as described, will permit its having a resilient actionafter the gripping-j aw D has been permitted to fall and grip the cloth,and the strain of the clothpulls the jaw D farther forward. It will beobserved that the gripping-j aw D when it has fallen and come intocontact-with the lower jaw or plate B stands at a slightly-oblique angleto the plate B, and any strain from the cloth then has a strong tendencyto spring the upper arm F upward. This has proved to be a serious defectin the clamps heretofore constructed, because the arms supporting thegripping-j aw have been made of cast or malleable iron integral with thelink-base and without any resilient action, and when the strain upon thecloth, acting through the wedge action of the gripping-jaw, had oncesprung the supportingarms out of their natural position they would notreturn, the fine adjustment required in the gripping-j aw would bedestroyed, and frequently the clamp would be thereby rendered useless.The resilience of my arm F has the advantage ofpermitting a slightoutward movement to the foot of the gripping-j aw if the strain upon thecloth becomes great without injuring the adjustment of the clamp. Muchof the advantage of my invention could be obtained by making the armsheretofore used of resilient metal but I prefer to substitute for them asingle arm F, made of steel about an eighth of an inch thick, so as tonot permit too much elasticity to the arm. I do not limit myself,however, to any particular thickness of metal, nor necessarily to steel,as many other well-known resilient metals or alloys would answer aswell.

The lower portion of the arm F as I have used it has a slot cut in it,through which the controller may fall, and a second slot at the rear,through which the controller enters from its pivot H, preferably carriedin lugs cast upon the base or link A, although other means of supportingthe pivot of the controller C could be readily substituted. It may alsobe advantageous at times to out still another slot in the middle of theupper portion of the arm to permit the projecting arm E or a portion ofthe controller C to pass through it in order to permit the clamp to beopened wider by pushing the gripping-j aw D farther back, and therebyfurnish greater space for the insertion of the'fabric, and I haveindicated. such a slot in the drawings; but such a slot is not alwaysessential or even preferable. It is evident that with such a resilientarm some means of preventing the gripping-jaw from being pulled too farforward by the strain exerted by the cloth is essential. This can beaccomplished by making the metal of the arm F sufliciently heavy towithstand any strain which the cloth would stand; but by doing so thearm would lose much of its elasticity and. much of the advantage to begained from that elasticity. I have therefore added to the outer edge ofthe plate B, forming the lower aw of the clamp, the raised rounded edgeor bead 1), against which the gripping-j aw may bring up when the clothpulls it forward against it that is, the gripping-jaw D is arranged.when it falls to normally reach the plate B a little way back of therounded bead, and then it may be pulled forward by the cloth until itreaches that bead, the end of the arm F at the same time being forcedupward. The head b need be only small to absolutely prevent the aw Dfrom being pulled over it. In fact, I have found that the bead 1) addsso much to the gripping power of the jaw D that it is probably capableof being used with the cast or malleable iron arms commonly usedheretofore to support the gripping-jaw to offset a considerable amountof the distortion of those arms heretofore spoken of. I do not,therefore, consider that the usefulness of the bead b is limited to acombination of it with the arm F, constructed of resilient metal.

I claim as my invention 1. A tentering-machine clamp composed of a plateor lower jaw, an upper or gripping jaw, and an arm constructed ofresilient metal and supporting the gripping-j aw.

2. A cloth-clamp composed of a plate or lower aw, an arm constructed ofresilient metal, and a gripping-j aw pivoted to said arm.

3. A cloth-clamp composed of a plate or lower aw, an arm over the lowerjaw constructed of resilient sheet metal, a grippingjaw pivoted to theend of the arm, and means for controlling the action of the gripping-jaw to cause it to grip the cloth upon or near its selvage.

4. A cloth-clamp composed of a plate or lower jaw, an arm over the lowerjaw constructed of resilient sheet metal, a grippingjaw pivoted to theend of the arm, means for controlling the action of the gripping-j aw tocause it to grip the cloth upon or near its selvage, and means forpreventing the grippingjaw from being pulled too far forward by thestrain of the cloth.

5. A cloth-clamp composed of a plate or lower jaw, an arm over the lowerjaw constructed of resilient sheet metal, a grippingjaw pivoted to theend of the arm, means for controlling the action of the gripping-jaw tocause it to grip the cloth upon or near its selvage, and a rounded edgeor bead upon the lower jaw to prevent the gripping-j aw from beingpulled too far forward by the strain of the cloth.

6. A cloth-clamp composed of a plate or lower jaw, an arm extending overthe lower jaw, a gripping-j aw pivoted to the end of the arm, means forcontrolling the action of the gripping-j aw to cause it to grip thecloth upon or near its selvage, and an edge or head upon the lower jawto assist the gripping-j aw in holding the cloth.

, HENRY WV. HONEYMAN.

Witnesses EDWARD G. CARR,- VVM. R. TILLINGT-IAST.

IOD

